This past October Theta Epsilon chapter at Kennesaw State University held its 22nd Fall Brotherhood Retreat at Hard Labor Creek State Park in Rutledge, Georgia. This annual event is the most anticipated of all the programs sponsored and developed by the chapter’s Alumni Association. The main goal for the trip is to bring brothers together for a weekend of reunion and revival. “We can try and teach Brotherhood for Life in our New Member Education, but this weekend is a living example. We have chapter founding fathers meeting new members, and everyone in between. How inspiring is that!” stated Theta Epsilon’s Alumni Association President Lindsey Turner.

Alumni and undergraduates enjoyed a weekend full of golf, lake activities, leadership development and team building. This year’s retreat was themed “Weekend at Bernie’s,” based on the 1980’s comedy movie and centered on the idea of dead weight that can accumulate in an organization. Topics and discussions were held on combating this concern and how full Chapter cooperation will take that heavy weight away. Brother Brian O’Donnell, alumni association secretary, remarked, “And we continued this theme through the functioning of the camp. All the meal preparation and upkeep are tasked out to everyone who attends, reinforcing the central message of teamwork throughout the weekend.”

The retreat kicked off Friday morning with the OX Scramble golf tournament at the state park’s course, The Creek at Hard Labor. Brother Barry Schrenk, grandson of Frank H. Schrenk, joined his fellow brothers for an exciting morning round. Later that afternoon the remaining undergraduates who had class that day began to arrive at Camp Rutledge.

After a meal of grilled burgers and hot dogs the evening activities began. First teams were declared, upon which each group is a mixture of alumni and undergraduates. Special attention was paid to individual traits and differing personalities to create positive interaction. The teams then began to build their “Bernies,” life size mascots, who were carried by the teams for the rest of the retreat.

Saturday was packed with leadership and team building activities, which are always highly competitive. The Lava Pit, Blind Man’s Bluff and Zip Line Bernie were just a few of the events each team had to conquer in hopes to build enough points to best the opposing competitors, all while assuring their Bernie completed each as well. The winning team won the most coveted prize of all – first servings of that night’s bar-b-que rib dinner. The team with the lowest amount of points was given task of dinner clean up.

Later that night the Brothers headed down to the lakeside amphitheater for an all night bonfire and brotherhood. Chapter President Matthew Mounts said, “It’s incredible that we have such support from our Alumni to host an event such as this each year. It’s great to get the Brothers away from the day-to-day distractions and spend quality time together.”